Quadriserv

Founded in September 2001 by a group of prime brokerage veterans including Gregory W. DePetris, Marty Hakker, and Joseph Weinhoffer, Quadriserv, Inc. was established to introduce efficiency and transparency into the securities lending industry. The New York-headquartered company operated as a holding company for its primary subsidiary, Automated Equity Finance Markets (AQS), a FINRA-registered broker-dealer and an SEC-regulated alternative trading system (ATS).

Quadriserv's core business revolved around its AQS platform, an electronic trading venue designed to facilitate the lending and borrowing of stocks for purposes such as short-sale settlements. The platform served a diverse client base that included beneficial owners, custodial banks, agent lenders, broker-dealers, and hedge funds. It functioned as a centralized marketplace aiming to enhance liquidity, access, and transparency while mitigating counterparty risk through a central counterparty (CCP) model. The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) served as the CCP for all transactions matched and executed on AQS, performing daily collateral and risk management.

The AQS platform offered automated trading for over 5,000 equity, ETF, and ADR products. In 2011, Quadriserv launched AQS Direct, a parallel broker-to-broker venue specifically created for large clearing member firms to execute high-volume, large-ticket transactions. The company's technology was built to streamline operations for its clients, offering features like straight-through processing for price discovery, clearing, and settlement. Integrations with major industry software, such as SunGard's Loanet, allowed users to manage their AQS activity from within their existing workflows.

Over its history, Quadriserv went through several key phases of development and ownership. After its founding, it secured multiple funding rounds, totaling $64.4 million from investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and Nasdaq. In August 2015, PDQ Enterprises acquired Quadriserv. Subsequently, in August 2016, EquiLend acquired AQS and its related technology from PDQ Enterprises. Following the acquisition, AQS was rebranded as EquiLend Clearing Services, and key personnel, including co-founder Greg DePetris and CEO Pat Cestaro, transitioned into advisory roles at EquiLend to assist with CCP-related matters.

Keywords: securities lending, electronic trading platform, AQS, equity finance, central counterparty clearing, broker-dealer, alternative trading system, stock loan, repo platform, OCC, automated trading, prime brokerage, institutional finance, financial technology, trade settlement, risk management, liquidity solutions, market data services, beneficial owners, hedge funds